More adventure, less run than I was expecting. I underestimated Eldorado Mtn, the last 1.5 hours were an intense experience, I don't think I'll be doing that one too many times!
I ran a steady but controlled pace for the classic skyline peaks, feeling good about my effort and time, thinking I was going to be able to complete the route in close to 4 hours. But then things got harder. The descent down Shadow Canyon is always trickier than I remember. I took a fall halfway down, and my left hip was in pain the rest of the run. Old Mesa trail into Eldo was so overgrown, I had to walk sections so I didn't lose the trail. Construction on the Eldorado Springs pool meant I had to add on a few minute detour through town. But I still got through to the faint trail up Eldorado Mountain in decent enough time. Navigation, and the terrain, were really difficuly up Eldorado Mtn Peak though. Was looking at the .gpx file of the route on my phone every few seconds to avoid getting lost. Knowing the route or having a guide could save tons of time there!
I carried 4 bottles of skratch hydration from the start, and 8 gels and two waffles for nutrition. I filled one bottle of water from the drinking fountain in Eben G Fine park. Otherwise, not much stoppage.
Other logistics: I showed my pass at the entrance to Eldo State Park, it was a free day though so only took a few seconds to get through the entrance. I also secured an off-trail permit to access Eldorado Mtn peak - easy to do on the Boulder Open Space website. That area was closed when I looked into this run two weekends ago, but opened on Aug 1, and this was great timing for me to use the route as a big training run!
Splits:
18:57 Sanitas
29:53 Bottom of Sanitas
1:07:39 Flagstaff
1:35:40 Green
2:19:46 Bear
2:29:50 SoBo
3:09:02 Eldo entrance
4:10:24 Eldo
4:52:21 Finish